Armor for vehicle-tires



V. P. RATZBURG.

ARMOR FOR VEHICLE TIRES. Armenian mm mm. 1, 190a. 'ncmzwan NOV. 12. 1911.

1,338,843. Patent/ed May 4, 1920.

Dzveniar: Vz'ctorRRatz burg.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VICTOR P. RATZBURG, 0F NASHUA. NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIlGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO BARRELL HOLDING AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF PORTLAND,

MAINE, A CORPORATION OF -MAIN E.

rim/ion son VEHICLE-TIRES.

Application filed March 7, 1908, Serial No 419,665.

To all whom. it may ('OHCLY'IL.

Be it known that I, Vro'rou P. Ra'rznuno,

a citizen of the United States i residing at:

the treadfeomprised transversely disposed chainsi'i'ilrhicmjampactinig' against the roadwafiwere rapidIy-demo ished at diate' -tread .portion's while remainingm conditionelsewhere. With-such wear. it' was required that .the armor, herbs- Icarded, even though other parts "of, the

transverse chains me have remained; substantially. unworn. t has been proposed to surmount this difficulty and prolong the utility of armor b making it reversible to rmit'one side w en worn to be replaced )3 a diametrically opposite side. The only sug estion'which'has been made in this regar however, has involved removal from the tire of the entire armor preparatory to reversing it and a subsequent replacement and re-adjustme' nt. Moreover, onlly diametrically op osite parts of the trea members were utilized to receive wear, while intervening lateral and other parts thereof would remain unworn and be wastedin (11S; carding the whole.

It is an object of this invention,- inter dig, to avoid such difiiculties as have been ex perienced heretofore in makingand using antiskidding tire armors. The character of the invention may be best understood by reference to the accompanving drawings, which show. for purposes 0 illustration, a con strnrlion cmlunl vin; llw variou features.

In the drawings,

Figure l is a side elevation of a wheel and tire associated with an illustrative form of armor;

Specification ol. Letters Patent their imme- Patented May 4, 1920.

Renewed November 12, 1917. Serial No. 201,861.

Fig. 2 is a transverse radial section of the wheel on the line 22 of Fig. l;

Fi 3, an enlarged detail showing a practicable form of tread member associated with convenient holdin me'ans;

Fig. 4 is a-side elevation of holding means of desirable but non-essential form.

Referring to Fig.1, the invention to be described is applied to the vehicle wheel 6 and the pneumatic tire 7. Upon the tire T is positioned anti-skidding armor oomprising annular holding members, shown as chains disposed oo-axially with the tire,- on

dis sed across the tread of the'tirev may have at its imm' late tread ineans, for. instance a coil sprin "9, rotatably mounted to sur cc to receive-contact with the roadbe'd and resulting wear. While the specific dis closure presents a coil spring 9,'- this is by no means essential, since any other, racticable means might be substituted." In t eispecific opposite sides thereof, and tread members g I s illustrated Fi 3, a tread rmit presentation of- -'all parts of z-jt qhnvmg at its respective ends eyes 13;. 13' g0 connected by links 14, lliind- 15, 15 "with the holding members of the armor which maybe chains 17, 17 or any practicable substitute. Preferably the arrangement shown is such that the spring 9. or a comparable element in the combination, niay have movement in relation to the shaft or 0th 1' member uponwhich. it is mounted thu's providing that the latter may remain sub-f stnntially stationary. while the forme 'g oflsothe tread of the armor,- may he adiusted present different parts of its surface-tore reive wear. Any practicable number of tread members may be'used and the x najr,-'

be associated in any suitable relattofitQF-QSZ means, such as chains 1'7-, 17 for=contributi ing to hold them improper position relative! to the tire.

Referring now-to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the immediate tread device 9 standsiii; 10

a substantially tangential relation to the crown of the tire and the shaft mcmberll has its eyes l3. l3 turned toward the tire, not only to suit the proximate ronformation of the tire. but also in order that all parts ion of said shaft member ll shall occupy rotired positions remote from the actual tread of the armor. With such an arrangement the immediate tread member 9 is the only part of the armor subjected to wear, and it may be completely worn through without in the least degree affecting the remainder of the armor or its continuity or integrity. While some wear takes place between the links lot the transversely disposed tread members and of the said holding chains, this is not comparable in degree with the destructive wear on the immediate tread portion of the armor resulting from impact against and abrasion by the road. Accordingly, the provision of a wear receiving member to supply the immediate tread and to be subjected to the destructive abrasion without impairing the integrity of the armor, is of great advantage.

Preferably, each eye 13, 13 of the shaft member 11' is engaged by an eye 19 of a link 14, the loop of the latter being disposed so as to lie flatwise relative to the tire with the lane of its eye 19 a proximately perpen icul'ar to the tire. his contributes to hold the shaft member eyes 13, 13 [latwise relative to the tire, so as to keep them in their retired position remote from the actual tread. The links 14, 14 in turn may be engaged by the links 15, 15 and the latter so connected by snug eyes 21, 21 to the side chains 17, that the entire tread member intervening between the side holding chains shall be held substantially flat in relation to the tire without being permitted any material angular movement. Such a provision serves to maintain all parts of the armor in preferred retired position remote from the tread, so that no part except the immediate tread device shall receive material wear against the roadway.

In using the exemplary embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings, the armor may be applied either before or after inflating the tire; and when in assembled position it need not be in any manner attached by straps or the like to the spokes or folly of the wheel. I prefer, instead, to provide a I frictional grip between armor and tire to prevent undesirable looseness or tree movement of the former on the latter. In this respect I follow a practice well-known in the art in which, for instance, the grip has been suflicient to embed parts of the armor slightly in the surface of the. tire. Even with such an arrangement it is probabl im possible to prevent creeping of the armor circumfcrentially of the tire.

(oi'itradistinguished from the frictional grip arrangement of the early art adopted in the present invention, it has been proposed, as exemplified in the well-known. chain armor, to associate the armor and tire loosely to permit free circumferential movement of the former on the latter, This,

however, is undesirable because such looseness permits the armor to rattle and sag with a great amount of slack which must be taken up as the armor wears, and is otherwise injurious.

The present invention follows the prior art to the extent of employing the frictional grip to prevent all free movement, looseness, sag and rattling. At the same time any inherent circumferential creeping does not impair the tire, since the tread members in the preferred embodiment move over the tire with a rolling contact, instead of being dragged bodily along the surface thereof. In fact this inherent creeping movement with snug frictional engagement between the tire and armor is utilized to promote the automatic adjustment of tread members to present new wear receiving portions thereof at-the tread of the armor.

To secure a suitable friction grip between tire and armor, the latter is I ireferably provided with springs 25, 2'5 fig. I) inserted in the side chains l7, 17 or elsewhere. The free ends of the side chains or their substitutesmay be connected by iturnbuckles 27. When the armor is placed in position on the tire the buckles may be screwed up so as to place the springs 25, 25 under suilicient tension to embed parts of the armor slightly inthe tire to create a frictional grip between the two suflicient to prevent free relative movement. In this manner the armor is held snu ly in place; the disagreeable rattling of oose armor may be avoided; and the complete response of the armor to variations in form of the tire is in no wise obstructed.

With the construction shown in the drawings, whenever one of the immediate tread devices 9 strikes the ground, it will be rotated slightly upon the. shaft member 11, so as to present a new wearing surface for the next impact against the roadway. In succession, every portion of thdmember 9 may be thus presented and subjected to wear which; in respect of the spring as awhole will be very gradual.

'If desired a washer 30 may be interposed between each end of a tread member 9 and the adjacent eye 1.3 of the shaft member 11,

.such washer serving as a smooth bearing plate against which the end of the tread member may move.

Various changes other than those particularly pointed out will be apparent to those familiar with the art, as will also appear the fact that the exemplary construction herein described may be variously changed and modified without departing from. the scope of the invention.

Claims:

1. Tire armor con1prising,in combination, a tread member arranged to extend across the tread surface of the tire; a shaft member on whichsaid tread member-is journaled to rotate when in use; and provismn for positioning said elements in suitable relation to a tire and permitting the armor to move circumferentially about the tire whereby said tread member, by reason of its contact with the tread. surface of the tire, will roll thereon and turn on said shaft member.

.2. Tire armor comprising, in combination, separate, spaced elastic tread members; positioning or holding means therefor on'which said tread members'are mounted torotate freely when in use; and provision for engaging the sides of the tire though unsecured thereto thereby to hold thearmor snugly against the tire simply by its engagement with the tire. a

3. Tire armor comprising, in combination, a tread device; a shaft member on which said tread. device is mounted to rotate when in use; and. provision for holding the shaft member in substantially constant relation to the proximate surface of the tire while providing for a shifting of the armor circumferentially of the tire accompanied by a rolling action of said tread devices along the tread surface,

4. Tire armor comprising, in combination, a hollow cylindrical tread device; a shaft member on which said tread member is mounted to rotate when in use; and provision for positioning or holding the same in proper relation to the tire While providing for a shifting of the armor circumferentially of the tire accompanied by a rolling action of said tread evices along the tread surface.

5'. Tire armor comprising,v in combination a hollow cylindrical tread device; a shaft member on which said tread device is mounted to rotate when in use, said shaft member bein substantially axially disposed in relati'on t ereto; and provision to position or hold the same in proper relation to the tire While providin for a shifting of the armor circu mferentlall of the tire-am A action of said tread devices along the tree. surface. 1

6. Tire armor comprising, in combination, a plurality of individually rotatable tread devices; annular holdin means atthe sides of thearmor and having connected companied by arollin'g thereto the tread devices; and yielding means in said holding means to maintain the rotatable tread devices against the tread surface of the tire and the armor as a whole snugly on a tire while permitting the inherent creeping movement of the same in use, whereby the tread devices are permitted a combined rotary and creeping movement on the surface of the tire.

7. Tire armor comprising a pair of side members, a series of tread members spaced on the tire and connections between said of side chains, and connections between said tread members and side chains.

9. Tire armor comprising a pair of s' e chains, a series of shaftmembersad'apted to be spaced on the tire and having ri d eyes extending at angles from said she t-melnbers, spiral gripping devices rotatable on said shaft members, and releasable hook connections between the respectiveeyes and said side chains.

10. Tire-armor comprisin a number ,of flexible cross members exten ing across said tire at intervals around the periphery thereof. each of said cross members comprising a relatively unyieldin roller, each of Wl'llCh has a spiral blunt edged projection adapted to be gripped between the tire and the ground, each cross member also comprising means for allowing the roller to rotate rela- VICTOR 1P. RATZBURG.

W'itnesses i EDWARD H. WAsoN, JAMES H. HUNT. 

